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Enuresis is the medical term for an embarrassing problem for some children; wetting the bed. A child who wets the bed needs to know that they are not bad, they need your love and understanding not your anger. You will need to determine if the problem is physical or emotional. There are ways you can help a child stop wetting the bed.
Bedwetting is very embarrassing and humiliating for a child. Enuresis is not uncommon, as many as 5 million children wet their beds. Boys typically wet the bed more often than girls do and until a much older age. A child is diagnosed with enuresis if he wets the bed at age five or older and at least twice a month. If the child has always had a problem with wetting the bed, this is considered primary enuresis. If the child had not wet the bed for at least a year and then regresses to wetting the bed, this is called secondary enuresis.
In most cases of primary enuresis, where the child has never been dry, the cause is probably related to a gastrointestinal problem or delayed physical development. Secondary enuresis, where the child regresses to bed wetting after being dry, is usually related to a stressful circumstance and the child will need to be evaluated by a mental health professional. Or in some instances secondary enuresis can be due to an urinary tract infection, sickle cell disease or diabetes, so take your child to the doctor if you suspect any of these.
A parent needs to understand the stages of development and what is normal so that expectations are realistic. As a child grows his bladder grows also and can hold more urine. When a bladder is large enough to hold a cup and a half of urine, then a child will be able to sleep an entire night without wetting the bed. Not only does the bladder have to be large enough, but the development of neuromuscular control needs to be there also. Many times this control does not develop until the age of five, so it is unreasonable to believe that a younger child can control urinating while sleeping. Sometimes physical development will be delayed until age six, so be patient and understanding.
Staying calm and casual as you change your child’s bedding and clothing will go along way in helping your child’s self-esteem and not promoting more bedwetting. Never yell, humiliate or punish a child for wetting the bed, this will have the opposite effect and make matters worse. This is not to say you should not have an older child change and wash their own sheets when they wet the bed. You can involve them in a calm and non-judgemental way in changing their sheets. Rewarding and praising a child for staying dry is also a good approach.
If a child has no physical problems and has suddenly started wetting the bed, this is secondary enuresis. A stress in the child’s life will most likely be the cause. An emotional upset such as a new baby, moving to a new home, starting school, a new day care, a new step parent or parental separation could be the cause. Bed wetting in these situations is usually short lived and will not last long. Be patient and understanding with your child. You should be concerned if the child is well over five years of age and they suddenly begin wetting the bed, it could be a sign that something is happening to your child you should know about.
To help a child stop wetting the bed, eliminate drinking any fluids after dinner. Have them urinate a few times during the hour before bedtime. Some children need to learn to wake up out of a deep sleep to go and use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Talk about this with your child and wake them up for awhile to go to the bathroom during the night. Leave night lights on so they can find their way to the bathroom.
You can help your child enlarge their bladder by having them drink a lot of fluids and then not urinate for as long as they can hold it. Eventually, they will be able to hold their urine for longer, this is a good sign that their bladder is getting larger. If you do this stretching exercise a couple of times a day for a week, progress may be possible.
If your child continues to wet the bed and your doctor has checked them for a physical problem he may prescribe a medication to help. Desmopressin, a hormone that stops enuresis by drying up extra fluid, can be given to a child in the form of a nasal spray. It has been found to be very effective. Another drug called imipramine can also be prescribed to a child to help stop bedwetting as it relaxes the bladder. This drug is not used as much as in the past due to side effects, and should never be given to a child under six.
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